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Occupying Iraq is costing the United States nearly $4 billion a month, but nearly one-third of that total is going to private contractors. The largest beneficiary is Halliburton, the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The Pentagon has expanded civilian contracts as reconstruction demands escalate in Iraq. NPR's Kathy Schalch reports.

The Bush administration is expected to ask Congress for a significant increase in funds for the reconstruction of Iraq. U.S. Iraq administrator Paul Bremer says he is seeking another $3 billion. Members of Congress say the initial $2.5 billion supplemental appropriation for Iraq is all but spent. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

Alistair Campbell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top media strategist, steps down amid accusations that he helped exaggerate evidence on Iraq's weapons programs. The British media had dubbed Campbell the "real deputy prime minister." Campbell cites family reasons for his resignation. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay are buried near Tikrit, the former Iraqi dictator's home town. U.S. forces continue to be targets for resistance, with one soldier killed and three wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack Friday night. And an Iraqi woman -- apparently a bystander -- dies when U.S. forces fire back after a bomb is thrown at an American military convoy. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

Three-and-a-half months after the fall of Baghdad, resentment to the presence of U.S. soldiers seems to be growing. When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed and looting erupted across Baghdad, doctors at the city's Al Kindi hospital begged American troops to protect them. But now, relations between U.S. soldiers and the medical staff are strained. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

At least seven people are killed in an explosion outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad. Two U.S. soldiers are killed in a gun battle in another part of the Iraqi capital. And in Tikrit, the U.S. military captures at least four suspected Iraqi guerrilla fighters. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels and NPR's Ivan Watson.

The Galileo spacecraft is sending back its final signals to Earth as its eight-year mission to Jupiter comes to an end. NASA mission managers are sending the spacecraft to its death by crashing it into the giant planet. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

U.S. Iraq administrator Paul Bremer appears before a Senate panel to defend President Bush's $87 billion funding request for U.S. operations in Iraq. Bremer warns that if Congress fails to approve more than $20 billion earmarked for reconstruction efforts, Iraq could become a haven for terrorists. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Three American soldiers die and two others are wounded in an ambush near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. Meanwhile, U.S. officials appear on Iraqi television asking Saddam's former defense minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, to surrender. Hear NPR's Emily Harris.

Bill Gates says his foundation will donate $51.2 million to help start 67 small high schools in New York City. The Microsoft founder and chairman says the effort will help poor and minority students prepare for college and for jobs in today's economy. Hear Renee Montagne's extended interview with the software billionaire.